Inhumanity
by Shadowdrake Magi
Summary: It's not easy being green. [Snippets from the lives of various Parasites.]
1. (Mis)Fortune

Goto didn't quite understand why Tamura insisted he mimic all of the human lifestyle when he had little need of money or luxury commodities, but he assumed she knew things he didn't, which was why he was currently wasting his time in line at a bank when he had a meeting to get to.

The doors suddenly slammed open and several people streamed in, all wearing dark face-concealing masks. He blinked as they completely disregarded the line and shoved their way to the front with guns in hand.

"Everybody get down on the ground!" one shouted. "This is a stick-up!"

Oh. Looks like he was going to be delayed even longer. He checked the clock on the wall and frowned.

No, that just wouldn't do.  
Goto calmly walked over the prone bodies, ignored the men pointing their little pistols, strode up to the cowering bank teller and calmly said, "I need to deposit a check." Before he could pull it out, one of the robbers interrupted him.

"Oy! What do you think you're doing?" The criminal in question moved up beside him and shoved a pistol against the center of his chest. "Listen here, you fancy businessmen think you're so high and mighty but if you don't get down on the ground right now I'll put you in your place with a bullet through the heart!"

"Really," Goto deadpanned, looking down at the would-be robber and his gun. "I highly doubt it."

"What are you doing?" the bank teller whispered hoarsely. "Don't try to be a hero-"

"Shut up," the criminal snarled and momentarily pointed the gun at the teller. He squeaked, ducking out of sight.

"A hero?" Goto repeated. A hero was someone who saved others from dying. He certainly didn't care about the lives of anyone else in the building.

"Are you mocking me?" The man's voice seethed with rage as he turned the pistol back at Goto, who briefly pondered whether he shouldn't have grabbed the gun while its owner was distracted. "Lie down on the floor with your hands behind your head, or I shoot."

Goto simply frowned, genuinely confused. "Why are you focusing on me instead of the—"

A gunshot interrupted him. He craned his head down and stared curiously at the hole in his chest, ignoring the shrieks and whimpers around him. It was unpleasant having a bullet stuck in him, but nothing he couldn't handle. The more pressing matter was his shirt and tie which both now had bullet holes and were covered in soot. At least his jacket didn't need to be replaced.

He looked back up at the quickly paling man. Although he couldn't display obvious Parasite abilities, high strength wasn't exactly Parasite-only. With a cruel grin, Goto shot his hand out and gripped the robber's right wrist before he could escape, then crushed it hard enough to feel bones cracking under the other man's skin as he screamed in agony and dropped the gun from his now-useless hand. As he fell to his knees Goto wrapped his other hand around the criminal's neck, calmly lifted the offender off the ground and squeezed his hand. He barely noticed the choking noises and feeble kicks from his captive attempting to get free.

Then something cracked under his fingers. The man almost instantly fell limp in his grip. He paused, dropped the body and frowned when it crumpled in a lifeless heap at his feet.

Ah, he'd accidentally broken the man's spinal cord. Goto flexed his right hand, decided that he needed more piano practice later, and turned back towards the bank teller without concern. Humans were just so fragile.

"Can you deposit this for me now?" he asked, handing his check over to the staring man.

The teller stuttered and nodded rapidly as he took the check. Goto watched while the other man fumbled with it, the dead silence around them barely impacted by the sound of machinery working and buttons being pressed. Finally the employee offered him a receipt with shaking hands. He sedately took it, folded it up and placed it in one of his coat pockets, then glanced at the corpse, not wanting to waste fresh meat.

Everyone seemed to move slightly away as Goto stooped down. "W-what are you doing?" stuttered one of the other hostages, watching him toss the dead body over his shoulder carelessly.

As he strode out of the bank, he answered without even a look back at the myriad of guns or stares pointed at him. "I'm disposing of the body, of course."


	2. Unpalatable

"Shimada-kun?"

The disguised Parasite scowled. "What do you want?" he asked brusquely, not bothering to look up from the unappetizing vegetable matter on his plate.

After a short moment of silence the female voice replied, "May I sit with you?" Her voice was somewhat hesitant as if taken aback by his tone. He didn't answer, knowing that she would probably sit whether he agreed or refused.

Shimada had little patience for human subtleties in communication, much less for people pestering him needlessly, but he'd found that outright denial rarely helped when he had to deal with the same people every day. If anything it tended to draw even more attention towards him.

As he had guessed, the vaguely familiar girl sat down right beside him and opened up her own lunchbox. He barely paid her any attention when she introduced herself as Nakano and commented that they shared their class, letting his silence show how welcome he considered her. Despite his lack of response she didn't seem to care, already beginning to chatter on about something insignificant without another word to him.

Part of Shimada's irritation was due to Izumi's presence keeping him from several easy meals. Had it not been for the failure Shimada could have taken advantage of his popularity to lure at least a student or two for himself, such as this Nakano. Instead, he had to shut down his instincts for what felt like no profit for himself and travel long distances for a mere chance to find food. Although he supposed Tamura wouldn't be pleased if he had to relocate somewhere else and redo the experiment.

"Aren't you hungry, Shimada-kun?"

Shimada glared at her, then at his nearly untouched lunch. Human food was so unsatisfying. How could Tamura think of subsisting entirely on it? Sure, the nutrients were good, but it had no substance. It simply fell apart in his mouth.

"I don't feel like eating," he replied curtly.

"Oh." The human girl picked at her own food, occasionally glancing at him even as he continued to tune out her voice.

Then he blinked, the telltale sensation of another Parasite's presence garnering his attention. He turned his head, faintly annoyed that he couldn't simply form an eye in the back of his head, and watched as Izumi and some other humans sat down at one of the cafeteria tables. Again the hand's signal was strangely faint. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, watching as Izumi acted completely human, no sign of the Parasite visible to Shimada's eyes.

"Shimada-kun?" Nakano said suddenly.

He glanced over. "What?"

"Do you like Izumi-kun?"

Slightly thrown off by the strange question, he paused. "I suppose. I had hoped to make friends with him."

"That's it?" She stared at him with her eyebrows lifted. "You always seem to be paying attention to him_—_not that it's_—_um_—_"

Shimada frowned. Was it that noticeable?

After Nakano floundered a bit, she breathed in deeply and continued. "Do you know him from outside of school? I heard the first day you came here he shouted at you, or something." She stopped and looked at him expectantly, evidently waiting for him to say something.

After a few seconds Shimada reluctantly replied. "I learned of him from someone else." He didn't feel like saying more.

"Ah." She fidgeted for a few moments. "Well, you never really talk to anyone else, don't seem interested in much other than sports. Some of us thought you didn't want to be friends with anybody at all. So I guess you're just shy?" Once she'd regained her momentum the girl rambled on, not seeming to realize that Shimada had turned away from her and towards Izumi again. "Besides, these rumors about you are just ridiculous_—_"

"I'm not shy," Shimada finally interrupted, sneering faintly at the idea that he would want to be friends with any normal human. Coexistence meant tolerance, not welcome. And his patience only went so far.

His eyes flicked back to Nakano. "What rumors?"

She shrugged, looking somewhat pink-cheeked. "They're nothing. Just something about, uh, you know, that you're carrying the torch for, um, Izumi-kun." As she spoke her voice lowered until it was almost inaudible.

"Carrying a torch?" Was that a saying? "What do you mean?"

"Nevermind, it's not important," Nakano said hurriedly and stood up, walking quickly away with her cheeks still pink in color.

Shimada shrugged, less concerned and more glad that she'd finally stopped bothering him. He'd ask Tamura about the phrase if he remembered it later. But perhaps he should be more subtle in keeping an eye on Izumi.

With one last glance at the human-Parasite hybrid, Shimada returned to glaring at the colorful mess that was meant to be his lunch.


End file.
